It is summertime, when ballet schools show off their young - before these innocents are launched upon that sea of troubles which is gainful employment as a dancer. So last week English National Ballet presented its pupils, on the edge of the Big World. This fine school has been directed for a decade by Kathryn Wade, a dancer whom I greatly admired. Training is well-rounded, with a notable admixture of French instruction, and there results a dance-style that is musical and unstrained. The ENB School show at the Britten Theatre of the Royal Academy of Music could not be faulted.

THE Royal Ballet School’s end-of-year show may be a showcase for its 200 students, but it’s also a smorgasbord of choreography that offers a far wider range than you would normally see on a professional stage. Bournonville, MacMillan and Petipa’s Le Jardin Animé on the same bill? I was in heaven.

That time of year is upon us again: ballet schools up and down the country display to doting parents what their offspring have been doing all year - at the same time, they are highlighting prospective talent for ballet fans.

The Royal Ballet School goes in for the inclusive method of programming. Its performance came in at nearly two-and-a-half hours, with 11 pieces to sift through: it is now, apparently, the audience's job to separate the wheat from the chaff. While the basic quality was high, it seems a bit much to ask those not related to the prodigies to sit through nearly an hour of children going through their paces

Reviews of both schools in The Independent.<P> <BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>It was tough luck on the Royal Ballet School's annual Covent Garden matinee that so many of the top pupils had already been creamed off by the RB and Birmingham RB companies (although some of us think the syllabus keeps them as students too long anyway).<P>The losses did not prevent a varied programme being presented, however, including dances by Frederick Ashton, David Bintley, Kenneth MacMillan and Christopher Wheeldon, on the grounds that experiencing our rich heritage of British choreographers is tremendously important for development and artistry – a thought that seems to escape the present RB management.<P><HR></BLOCKQUOTE><P><A HREF="http://enjoyment.independent.co.uk/theatre/reviews/story.jsp?story=315919" TARGET=_blank> <B> MORE </B> </A>

Review of both schools in The Sunday Times.<P> <BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>The Royal Ballet School’s annual matinée, also at the Opera House, was missing many of the graduate-year students, who had won early contracts with the two Royal Ballet companies. Good for them. But there was still a full and varied programme, with younger talents on show, and some evidence, as well, of overstretching. <P><HR></BLOCKQUOTE><P><A HREF="http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2101-358538,00.html" TARGET=_blank> <B> MORE </B> </A><P>And in The Observer.<P> <BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Some of the youngsters had been in the Royal Ballet School's annual matinée in the Opera House last weekend. All 204 pupils squeezed onto the stage for the grand finale, from the very juniors to those already accepted by companies abroad and at home. Gailene Stock, the school's principal, chose to show them off in works by (mainly) British choreographers. So, while parents proudly admired their offspring, hardened viewers looked for a sense of 'English' style, as well as a sound training. <P><HR></BLOCKQUOTE><P><A HREF="http://www.observer.co.uk/review/story/0,6903,758975,00.html" TARGET=_blank> <B> MORE </B> </A><p>[This message has been edited by Joanne (edited July 21, 2002).]

ENB has announced that 4 graduates from the ENB School - Kei Akahoshi, Any Hollins, Jenna Lee and Emmanuel Roy have joined the company. This means that graduates from the School account for approximately 23% of the company this year.

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